Living Purposefully Towards Eternity

Irish-English philosopher, Iris Murdoch(1), atheist, bootstrapist, communist, and debauchee (having "multiple affairs with both men and women”), opined: “There is no external end or point in any divine sense of our existence.” Simply stated, Murdoch’s existential ideology is meaningless; philosophic erudition notwithstanding.

Declaring faith in the meaninglessness of life, and the universe, does not render it so, despite Philosophic erudition.

To Murdoch “beauty, goodness and love are the only things that have meaning”. As with most philosophers she applauds these noble moral qualities within her disconcertingly morally mismanaged human perception of this cluster of significant ethical elements. Her eruditely articulated “concept of love” is, of course, never defined according to the moral standard of God who is the source of love, and who purposefully created life.

Murdoch opines, “We need a moral philosophy in which the concept of love … can once again be made central.” Ironically, this pretentious ideological nobleness contradicts her lifestyle so manifestly biblically amoral. Her misconceived “love-morality” [as with the western Platonically persuaded philosophic fraternity with its underpinnings mostly determined by their clandestine corrupt conduct] leads to a scripturally amoral existentialism—intellectual veneer notwithstanding!

Only scripturally founded and bounded philosophy, anchored in the one true source of eternal, life-giving principles which, if followed [obeyed] will result in the fulfilment of man’s passionate hankering after eternity and the fulfilment of his divine purpose.  Our ultimate life-mission—living purposefully towards eternity—is clearly defined and outlined within the sacred biblical text. It is found nowhere else! Philosophers fail, both to define and delineate the process to achieve it. Some schemata come close; but as with Satan’s philosophic pollution via a “new morality”—rebellion!—so, similarly inspired philosophic streams continue to pollute, swamp and obscure humanity’s sacred eternal life-purpose.

Scripture provides us with clear insight into the mind of the ancient philosophers and by extension their modern counterparts who, through the centuries have resolutely walked the darkened alleyways of Socratic-Platonic deception with heavy doses of vraisemblance. Despite knowing sufficient truth to be condemned thereby, they rejected such truth and became perverse in their thinking and reasoning about life, its purpose, and eternity, having opted, inter alia, for the Satanic doctrine of the “immortality” of the human soul. [Refer Rom 1:18 and 25 and our previous blog Immortality: The Mortal Quest.]

Philosophic self-determined moral schemata, values, and behavioral codes constructed from humanistic and politically perverse bases—seemingly impressive ideas, toxic ideologies, lethal idealisms, and idistic intellectualism—are biblically portrayed as “vain”. Paul states that the intellectuals have become “… vain [morally wicked] in their imaginations [Gr. Dialogismos, discussions, debates, disputes, reasonings, and PURPOSES], and their foolish heart [even Socrates’ and Plato’s!] was darkened” [Rom 1:21]. These intellectual icons—theorists, pretentious “truth-seekers”, thinkers, academics, idiopsycological idealists—erected private psycho-idolums in their murky mental temples. Jude styles them as “filthy dreamers who defile their bodies” [v. 8].

Purposeful Godly direction in life is not in the ken of kakos-minded man. Fraught with the frailties of human nature man as a species will forever fail to attain his God-designed inner urge--the obsessive quest for divinity and eternity [Genesis 1:26, Ro 2:7].

We are not placed upon this earth to be mere time travelers enjoying the James Webb Space Telescope’s celestial scenery and panoptic terrestrial landscapes. By mental capacity and creativity, spiritual drive and internal dynamism, we are designed to DO something worthwhile—follow God’s plan, purpose, and process which secure eternal life--our God-determined destiny.

Perhaps the psychological pan-sexualist philosophy, positing that the sex drive is the chief and only energizing source of this biopsychic specie called “homo sapiens”, serves as self-created justification for the rampant lascivious self-satisfying engagements of the philosophic community through millennia, from Socrates—who publicly abused himself!—to the similar sexual libertinism rampant within the philosophic fraternity today. Their dogma, satiated with the seeds of self-gratifying, self-justifying moral credos, which have no basis in truth or Godliness, provide them and humanity with an immoral carte blanche. Western cultural, political, and socio-economic rot is rooted in the philosophic antinomianism of the amoral intelligentsia. [For which they are honored with Knighthoods, Pulitzer Prizes and the Nobel Peace Prizes!]

Jordan Peterson, recently turned bible enthusiast, declared, “You don’t create the moral order, you dwell within it.” Seemingly Peterson forgot that the Western ‘’moral order” largely had its genesis in Plato’s Park, Akademeia, which is perpetuated to this day in the philosophic tradition in all evolutionary antinomian academic institutions, of which he, Peterson, was an integral part.

Who, other than the philosophic fraternities, created Western [im]moral [dis]order? Who, other than the Akademeia broods created “the landscape of the profound fiction we inhabit”? [Peterson].

To pluralize the seventeenth century English statesman-historian, Macaulay, they [here applied to the philosophers] are “… willing and competent to soothe their consciences with sophisms.” Their clever and reasonable but false arguments will never sanctify their biblically antinomian behaviors. The judgment seat of Christ makes no justifiable provision for sophisticated rationalized immoral conduct. There is only one historic and cosmic justification process—by God-given faith in the redeeming sacrifice of Christ! [Rom 5:18]

Antinomianism—lawlessness; i.e., breaking the Law, the ten commandments, the fourth one included—is sin! And sin remains sin so long as the law remains, and the law remains for ever! [Ps.119:44, Is 2:3, Mic 4:2, Lk 16:17.]

When the law of God is defied, despised, and discarded by any rational being, the penalty of eternal death will be exacted. If such sin is repented of, the law is obeyed, grace is received, and Christ’s sacrifice is accepted, the gift of eternity is granted [Rom 6:23].

“Just as sin [breaking the ten commandments (1 John 3:4)] has reigned unto death, even so might grace reign through righteousness [the keeping of the ten commandments] unto eternal life by Jesus Christ our Lord.” [See Romans 2:7, 5:21 and John 3:15.]

For man, life-purpose is not an easy thing to determine. Nor is eternity naturally within human grasp. Since the God-ordained life-purpose for humanity was rejected by man in Eden, resulting in the first fratricide—Cain murdering Abel—man had to invent self-willed, self-justifying purposes and goals to satisfy the self. Worshipping the self—the ego and id [SELF-ishness] became an inner idol. This selfishness lies at the root of all evil. [The elites' love of money ánd power are manifestations of such selfishness.] The introduction of evil in the universe is rooted in Luciferian lust—exclusive self-love—expressed as greed through consummate covetousness and power passion. Lucifer, in selfish rebellion, targeting God’s throne!  This same sinful essence in humans, their selfish desires and character, is happily espoused by all humans. And, it sires the same selfish satanic sins.

Social media is rife with programs which inflame the animality of self-satisfaction and unstoppably boundless greed produced from within man’s troubled and shattered psyche of anguish, agony, corrupt cravings and violently destructive predispositions. Result? War! War! And more War! And humanity drowning in an ocean of tormented tears.

Satan loves to display his influence and power over sick society, degraded leadership, unholy laws, perverse judgments, crooked judges, corrupt clergy, obscene oligarchs, and repellently repulsive and revolting presidents internationally humiliated in the media. [See, inter alia, Isaiah 10:1-4; Matthew 23; Psalm 58:1-4.]

Ask these Satanic subordinates and associates if they will go to heaven upon death and they will positively so affirm! They are good Catholics! Or tulip-hugging reformists! Or adherents of a monkish, beer swilling, protester. Or a gang of incoherent, illusory 'spirit filled', babbling, cross kissing, metal music maniacs.

But heaven cannot be had by hellish behavior. Something must change!

However, nothing will ever change unless there is a total change--departure, repentance--from human philosophy and man-made moral models to the only pathway to a sane, truly God-based morality which submit to the laws and rule of God to create the new heart [Jeremiah 31:33] required to fit into a government filled with righteous beings reformed by God-crafted character. 

Philosophic-psychological panjandrums cannot deliver us from our splintered savage souls. There is only ONE deliverer, ONE savior, ONE door—Christ! Only by subservience to our God-determined destiny, a truly theological teleology, having a definitive, divine cosmic PURPOSE, will we understand [Ps 111:10] the well-ordered, universal, deifical predetermined purposeful plan offering every human being ETERNITY!

Purposefully living towards eternity is beyond measly human capacity. There exists a clearly defined biblical process by which humanity may achieve this supremely glorious, infinity-bound future. Murdoch’s philosophic bootstapism [“making ourselves better”] is mere moral mush, sentimental slop, celebrated psychological saccharine, and intellectual gimcrackery.

Philosophic panaceas do not offer the heavenly process of earthly deliverance!

This deliverance process is rooted in God’s calling [John 6:44], His gift of grace and faith [Eph 2:8], real repentance [genuinely ceasing from sin! (Acts 2:38)], submission to the righteous law of God [Rev 14:12], personal acceptance of Christ’s justifying sacrifice, adult baptism by immersion [betokening the washing away of sin], and the gift of the divine power of the holy spirit for empowerment to overcome self, Satan, sin, and society!

Ignorance of the God-centred life-purpose and salvific process, formed philosophic quackery’s gilt, wading in centuries’ cerebral goo, producing philosophic piglets of disparate hues.

Paul, despising the scholars and philosophers of his age, decry their moral dereliction and intellectual dishonesty. Contrastingly he depicts himself, and by extension, Christians, as resolutely “reaching out” [striving purposefully] to possess the eternal prize attainable only through Christ’s established process! [Acts 12:4; 1Tim 1:15, 2:4, 4:10.]

Paul states: “This one thing I do [singular in purpose!], I forget those things which are behind and reach forth unto those things which are ahead” [Phil 3:13].

It was the fulfilment of that which was yet to come—the receiving of the inheritance of the eternal objective of God’s divine purpose for humanity, i.e. the ultimate rebirth into the family of the Eternal Creator, which was the singular driving force in Paul’s mind.

Man, as morally free, can design and determine his own purpose and direction in life. Though such a philosophic path and purpose may be meaningful to man, it remains meaningless, theologically and teleologically.

There is an overall, macro-predetermined, all-encompassing, cosmic purpose for human life upon this earth. Human life and the cosmos have a singular purpose--a paradisical eternity. The important question is: Are we, after “Paradise Lost”, able to find and follow “the stairway to Paradise”?

Are we mere passing phantoms soon to dissipate in the mystical mists of time and space? Are we to melt into an amorphous array of dynamic atoms in an incomprehensibly immense, unending cosmos? Is that endless cosmic expanse forever to remain relatively “void” of intelligent, creative, productive beings?

Genesis 1:2 describes the earth as having become “without form and void”—"tohu va bohu”. All pre-existing material life was destroyed. But Yehovah, the Eternal Creator, states: “[He] that created [Heb. bara, make out of the unseen, not nothing! (Heb 11:3)] the heavens; God himself that formed [Heb. squeezed into shape; to mould; to PURPOSE] the earth and made it [appointed, dressed, prepared] ; he hath established it [set it up, SET ARIGHT, FIXED IT], he created it not in vain, he formed it to be inhabited [bring it again to be inhabited]: I am YEHOVAH; and there is none else” [Isaiah 45:18].  

The RE-CREATED earth was PURPOSED AND FIXED to be RE-inhabited by intelligent governing beings. Isaiah 9:7 indicates that the whole cosmos is ultimately to be utilized in some intelligent governing manner under the Messianic rulership. It states: “Of the increase of his government and peace there shall be no end … even for ever.”

The government, being dynamic, increases as the occupation of the universe expands; if not, the government of God remains static after Christ’s return.  Yehovah, however, is not a static God! Christ said the Father “works hitherto” [Jn 5:17]. God rested from his labors on the seventh day Sabbath, he did not cease from his labors!

The Father constantly WORKS. He constantly CREATES. AND He constantly GOVERNS His creation. Therefor He, in a reconstructed earth, and in an eternally endless cosmos occupied by eternally increasing dynamic intelligent beings, will not tolerate a few billion lousy lazy louts loitering around to enjoy the fruits of their unappreciated “salvation by grace alone”!

Elohim stated at the outset that man is made after His own manner, model, and mode. Humans, as intelligent, sentient beings are created to create—to work, to produce, to rule and govern. This rulership is to begin with ruling their sinful selves. Sinful man’s life-purpose is encapsulated in the command to the fratricidal murderer, Cain: “rule over sin” (Gen 4:7).

Genesis 1:26 and 28 explains the built-in ETERNAL PURPOSE of human beings: to “have dominion” [Hebrew “Rada”, to subjugate, reign, having power to rule]. Rulership is central to God’s character. The essence of God-character is love [1Jn 4:16]. And flowing from that love-character, He, as King, rules all his subjects in pure love. He will set up an Eternal Kingdom for that purpose.  And man was created with that element as part of His psycho-spiritual composition. Reciprocally man is to love his Creator to ultimately rule with Him.

How is this reciprocal love manifested in real-life? By “keep[ing] his word [the laws as outlined in Scripture], [and] in him [the person who obeys the laws of God] verily is the love of God perfected: [and] [t]hereby know we that we are in him” [1Jn_2:5].

“[W]hoever continually keeps his commandments is the kind of person in whom God's love has truly been perfected. This is how we can be sure that we are in union with God” [International Standard Version (emphasis added)]. To clinch the matter, the holy spirit adds: “For this is the love of God, that we keep his commandments: and his commandments are not grievous” [1Jn 5:3].

Inventive and inspiring aphorisms and insights abound in philosophy, yet, historically, it failed to solve our global ills, it being divorced from God-centred, commandment-based “beauty, goodness and love”—the essence of which Murdoch will yet discover.

Trusting you can discover it and live purposefully towards eternity!

Reference:

1.      Dame Jean Iris Murdoch (15 July 1919 – 8 February 1999) was an Irish and British novelist and philosopher. Murdoch is best known for her novels about good and evil, sexual relationships, morality, and the power of the unconscious. - Wikipedia